Just like bodies in motion stay in motion, when we get into a rut, it becomes easier to stay in a rut.

When we fall into the habit of overeating or eating junk when we’re stressed, it gets easier to repeat that behavior.

One episode of late night emotional eating can lead to a whole week of late night emotional eating.

When our brain is under stress there is a vicious cycle that gets created. In a study of chronically stressed rats the brains atrophied in the areas of decision making, while becoming overly developed in the area of habit formation.

Scientists note that behaviors can stick more quickly in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to long term thinking, rational behaviors when that would, of course, be the better approach. <— A.K.A. a vicious cycle.

This might explain why when we’re under stress we abandon all that we know – and all that we consciously want to do, and fall back into old habits.

Scientists note that we’re lousy at recognizing when our normal coping mechanisms aren’t working.

Our response is usually to do it five times more, instead of thinking, maybe it’s time to try something new. <— A.K.A. the definition of insanity –> Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

So, even though eating junk doesn’t really help us feel better, we can’t stop ourselves from continuing to do it. Why? Because we’re used to doing that when we’re stressed. It’s simply how our brains are wired to act when we’re under stress.

Although stress is a huge killer, it’s also necessary for us to survive.

Fortunately, we no longer stress about what our ancestors did.

Our bodies have the most complex systems on Earth.

What’s the benefit of our brain being prone to habit formation anyway?

Perhaps to help shift as many behaviors as possible over to automatic pilot so we can better focus on the crisis at hand.

And even if the crisis at hand is our boss yelling at us or our kids being disrespectful – if we feel stressed, we’re stressed. Perception IS reality!

What do we do???

Besides, taking a vacation and changing up our routine for a bit which can rewire our brain there is also a big opportunity for us to change…

IF we plan ahead what we’ll do before we’re stressed.

If we do that, it’ll increase the likelihood that we’ll actually start doing it when we’re stressed. Lucky for us our new behaviors will become a habit more quickly as well!

Our biggest opportunities for growth are always when we’re most uncomfortable.

Here are 5 ideas for you to use next time you’re stressed:

1. Listen to music.

2. Gather a few favorite emails and read them when you’re stressed. Be sure to save them all in one place so they’re easy to get to.

3. Get up. Take a big deep breath and go for a 10 minute walk.

4. Read a juicy gossip blog that might make you feel otherwise guilty for doing so. (We’ll feel way less guilty reading than eating!)

5. Call your favorite person.

Pick one and try it next time you feel stressed.

Though it might be feel uncomfortable at first (doing anything different, especially when we’re stressed WILL feel uncomfortable), if we focus on just doing it the very next time we’re stressed, it’ll be a tad easier to do it again.

If we look at each stressful situation as an opportunity to create new habits (and it is), it makes it less daunting.

And if you don’t like the ideas above (totally fine by me) it’s worth thinking of other ways you can calm yourself down. The key, of course, is to think about what we’re going to do…before we get stressed.

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It’s so easy to just say, “Eat less!” The critical and often neglected part of losing weight is the mental aspect of it. The psychology of weight loss.

Most “experts” ignore it because it’s way easier to just write articles with top ten lists telling us what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. C’mon now. We’re better than that!

For the most part, we all know what to do! It’s about actually doing it day in and day out. That’s the hard part! There are reasons why we can’t stick with it, though. MyBodyTutor will help you understand those reasons to ensure you stay consistent which guarantees YOU results.

I think all of us will agree that stress makes people eat. Or grief. Or celebration. Thankfully, these emotions are fairly easy to identify, and associate with overeating.

We’re all emotional eaters. Some more than others, of course, but we all eat emotionally.

Emotional eating is simply eating to change the way we feel. And many of us eat when we feel stressed or happy or sad.

But what happens when we’re nothing but a big tlgenad (<—-Win a prize! Read below.) ball of emotions and we suddenly feel crazy because we can’t identify what we’re feeling at all?

We hate our job. Our spouse is giving us the cold shoulder. We’re lonely. We got into a fight with a coworker. Our kids are being unappreciative. The laundry is piling up…

Unfortunately, there’s no escape button.

So, when we’re faced with emotions that we can’t pinpoint, food can seem like an easy way out. And while food will provide us an escape, sitting with this big ball of feelings – although uncomfortable – can help us sort through things so we can really see what our reality is.

When there’s a lot going on, the key is to sorta act like Vanilla Ice (wow, never thought I’d write that in a inspiration) and instead of, “Stopping, collaborating and listening” we want to slow down, look, listen and feel.

Because if we don’t, this overwhelming feeling can create so much “noise” in our head that the idea of going into what I call a ‘food trance’ seems so appealing.

When we’re tempted to overeat because we feel overwhelmed, it’s helpful that we:

1. Slow down

2. Talk to a friend

3. Write it out and get clarity

4. Wait before acting

5. Think things through

6. Take each stressful situation and give it a feeling. The more specific we can be, the better. Then —> think of three things we can do to help this situation.

While food gives us momentary escape (and this is why our short term, irrational mind is so drawn to this), it blocks us from reaching a long-term solution.

When we work to understand what we’re actually feeling, there is always so much clarity, insight and possibility, and that feels very exciting.

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Win a prize! The first person to message me with what that bolded word is really supposed to be wins a special prize. I will announce the winner and prize in the next inspiration. Good luck and hurry up!

The homo economicus view of human beings states that we think and choose unfailingly well, and we fit within the text book picture of economists.

According to economists we will choose what’s best for us.

HAHAH! Do they live in THIS world?

Clearly, this is not the case.

Research in psychology and behavioral economics proves we are very, very irrational creatures.

On one hand (I like to call this our long term self / rational mind) we know what’s best for us. We know we shouldn’t overeat, drink and smoke.

On the other hand (I like to call this our short term self / irrational mind) we’re highly impulsive and succumb to temptations all the time.

A temptation then is anything we consume more of when we’re hot/irrational/short sighted.

My definition of a temptation is anything that makes us think irrationally.

Here’s the challenge: Right now (5:07 EST on Friday), I feel pretty good. No cravings. I plan on going to the gym later on, and I feel focused and on point.

However, in 3 hours when I plan on going to the gym, I might feel tired. Being tired helps our irrational mind get louder. So does being hungry. So does being anxious.

Research has proven, and I’m supremely confident we don’t need research to prove this, we grossly underestimate how we’ll feel and act when we’re tempted – which in turn, wakes up the irrational part of our brain.

Right now, junk food isn’t in front of me. I’m thinking rationally. I’m good to go.

But, if you put my favorite treats in front of me (I’m not even going to write them) it would be an entirely different ball game.

A few lessons can be learned:

1. Don’t have any temptations near you. In your house, car, desk, whatever. Sounds obvious but it’s amazing how many people keep junk around.

2. Tell your loved ones / friends / etc., that you’re on a mission and that you’d appreciate if they didn’t bring you your favorite treats or keep them around.

3. Protect yourself from getting irrational. Remember: Hungry (eating every 3-4 hours), tired (sleeping, AND counterintuitively exercising – exercise GIVES us energy), and anxious (figuring out what’s REALLY bothering us, and choosing TO bother with it!) are the 3 killers.

4. Don’t go where there will be temptations! “Thanks, Captain Obvious!”

Sometimes we can’t control this but many times we can! A client just told me how she read an article about doughnuts this morning, and all day long she’s been thinking about doughnuts. Why do that to ourselves?

If we’ve decided that the junk at the party we’re going to isn’t worth it…why bother even looking?

Don’t underestimate how hot you can really get!

But see, right now, we’re cold so we’ll rationalize and say things like “Na, I’m good! I’ll be fine!”

Remember: #3 above, and let’s protect ourselves!

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It’s not only ME saying amazing things about MyBodyTutor. Check out all of the press and testimonials we’ve gotten because of the amazing results we’re getting for our clients.

A few weeks ago, right smack in the middle of the day, the opportunity to ride a Segway was presented to me. I had never ridden one before but I knew I really wanted to do it. Unfortunately, my schedule was pretty packed that afternoon and evening…

DAMN! What to do?

Well, I began adjusting my schedule so I could make it happen. However, I’d be squeezing it in between two things I couldn’t miss.

Until…

My friend suggested I do it the next day!

“TOMORROW?!?!”

I was so caught up in the moment, that didn’t even occur to me. I was so pumped up! I HAD to ride the Segway THAT day. NOT the following day.

Once I realized that I’d be cutting it very close with my schedule, I decided the following morning would have to suffice.

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I’m a big believer in scheduling events or creating things to look forward to. Anticipation is a HUGE key to happiness. When it comes to happiness there are four stages: Anticipation, savoring the actual event or moment as we experience it, expressing our pleasure to ourselves or those with us, and reflecting on the fun and happy memory.

I think my favorite stage of happiness is…wait for it….hold on….give me a second…anticipation. (See what I just did there?)

Anticipation can make our lives better. And sometimes, I enjoy the anticipation of an event MORE so than the actual event I’m anticipating! (And I’m okay with that!)

Whether it’s planning trips or figuring out fun plans for the week or weekend, setting things up for ourselves to look forward to will absolutely make us happier.

I try to create anticipation in my life as often as possible. (In fact, I’ve been looking forward to writing this VERY piece for a few weeks now. But I purposely waited.)

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Question: If you had the chance to go to your favorite Tropical Paradise this weekend or in four weeks, what would you choose?

I’d choose going away in four weeks. Want to know why? This way, I get to look forward to the vacation for FOUR WHOLE weeks! It’s like a four week vacation PLUS the vacation itself.

Question: If you had the chance to go to your favorite restaurant today or in two weeks from now, what would you choose?

I’d choose going in two weeks from now. Why? Because I get to look forward to my favorite meal for two whole weeks!

Question: If you had the chance to indulge in your favorite junk food today or this weekend, what would you choose?

I’d choose this weekend. Why? Because I can anticipate how tasty that junk food will be all week long!

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I’m an idea guy. I have binders full of ideas. And before I started MyBodyTutor back in February of 2007, I was constantly thinking about ideas I wanted to pursue. But only one kept popping up again and again and again. Only one actually caused me to not be able to sleep because I was SO excited by it. The others? If it wasn’t for my binder, they’d be long gone out of my memory.

The point? Sometimes, ideas don’t seem all that compelling after we noodle on them for a while. And it’s a wise idea to noodle on them – otherwise, we’ll do things without really thinking it through.

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When I finally went on the Segway that following day – I was thrilled. I had an absolute blast. And the best part was that I got to look forward to it the whole day before.

Sometimes, we gotta delay instant gratification for future happiness!

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Feel like eating your favorite unhealthy food because it’s been a long day?

What if you decide that you’ll strategically allow yourself (I say strategically because this is a conscious choice, not an impulsive one) to indulge in a few days time?

In fact, planning ahead when you’re going to eat your favorite junk is a very strategic move. It allows us to anticipate eating it AND it also allows us to PAUSE before we give in. Plus, knowing that we’ll be indulging soon makes the temporary discomfort more tolerable.

The coolest part is that by then we’ll have so much momentum on our side, that we usually don’t even want to indulge. And what if we still really want to? At least it was a mindful choice that gave us an extra boost of happiness (having something to look forward to) and a compelling reason to not give in right away.

So next time you want to indulge why not “Segway It,” until later on. (ALERT! Yes, that is the new term to help us get over cravings.)

I anticipate reading it on my clients’ feedbacks already. “I really wanted those cookies but I decided to “Segway It” until this weekend and if I still really want them, I’ll allow myself to have a few, guilt free.”

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Like this post? Why not forward it those in your life that could benefit from it. There’s no extra postage, and the best part is you get to anticipate their reaction to it.